As for the network: “The View will be moving in an exciting new direction next year and ABC has made decisions to evolve the show creatively,” read their statement in part. That new direction might include male cohosts, according to some strong rumors.

Wait a minute, Bill Geddie. Pump the brakes, ABC. Let's talk about this before we rush into anything rash.

With the table nearly empty, The View now has the opportunity to either truly stage a comeback or tip into full-on laughingstock territory. It's off to a bad start: Shepherd should not have been fired. She's never been a flashy cast member, but she has been maybe the most reliable in history. She's quick with a joke. She's firm in her political views but resists alienating those who disagree with them. And she's willing to pass the ball—a skill that 90 percent of the women on this show never learned, driving away potential fans as they loudly hogged conversations. (Looking at you, Hasselbeck, Behar, and McCarthy—yes, she was the right one to get rid of.)

Though I'd be psyched for such a format, I doubt The View is going to turn into a daily solo dispatch from Goldberg. Filling those empty seats with men is not the answer though. If The View has a legacy—and it's doing its best to make that a laughable thought by running live yogurt commercials during the show—it's an all-woman panel. XX exclusivity is the one thing The View shouldn't throw out.

What they should toss: the aforementioned live ad spots. The friggin' tub of Vaseline the show is shot through. The idiotic segments about "comedy," the useless stuff on fashion, and the watered-down homemaking how-tos.

Think back to a time in which The View actually made news: It was always about a heated debate among the panel or a sound bite from a high-profile interview. And that's how it should be. This is a show founded by Walters, one of the most famous journalists ever—a show that continues to demonstrate serious booking power when it comes to heads of state and Hollywood stars alike. But it's sagging—and bleeding viewers—under the weight of casserole demonstrations and self-promotional shouting matches.

The View needs to get back to basics—and those basics, in the beginning, included younger cohosts. I am rarely one to side with TV's youth obsession, but for crying out loud, this show is verging on Red Hat Society territory. Debbie Matenopoulos was 23 when she sat on the show's premiere panel. Lisa Ling was 26 when she joined. So was Hasselbeck—and after that, someone must have stomped whatever crystal time machine she came in on to dust. The View never hired another person under 35 again.

That means that today entire swaths of the female population—college students, working twentysomethings, young stay-at-home moms—scroll right past The View. There's no one there to authentically represent their perspectives on dating, marriage, career-building, or reproductive issues. And you cannot blame a daytime time slot for their apathy: They watch Ellen. Come this fall, they'll have The Real—a Fox talker stocked with a younger and more diverse cast—which means The View better get its s—t together in a hurry.

The View started as a program that wasn't afraid to take risks: Walters plucked Matenopoulos and Ling out of total obscurity. Producers rode out Rosie O'Donnell's volatility for all it was worth. And they cultivated an intimate presence in a way that had viewers hooked on the cohosts' lives (who else can still picture Meredith Vieira's dog?), back before being a cohost meant alternately screaming about your vote and your book.

It worked once, and it can work again, because women like me still have affection for this franchise, still want to want to watch it. Case in point:

It can work again, if the show doubles down on fresh voices, hires some funny female writers from, I don't know, the endless pool of comedians that is New York City, and stops trying to trick women into identifying with the biggest B-lister it can afford. Boys are not the answer, View. Girls still have plenty to say—and besides, I don't trust your taste in men. Mario Cantone's around way too much.

Photos: Courtesy of ABC

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Megan AngeloEntertainment writer. I love talking about TV so much, you'll eventually back slowly away from me at a party.